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(More customer reviews)Sidney Toler's Chan was nothing like Warner Oland's characterization. But if the truth be told, it's Toler who comes through in the pages of Earl Derr Biggers novels, not Oland. I know because as an inveterate Oland fan, I tried very hard to see my hero in the six Chan novels but, alas, it was Toler who showed up in my mind's eyes and ears. As for the Toler films, it took Fox awhile to reposition the series to capture Toler's strengths. If Oland's Chan was like a stately mandarin, Toler's was more of a gritty, Sam Spade-like characterization.
By late 1940, Fox had tailored the scripts to suit Toler's personality and replaced the globe-trotting Oland formula ("At the Race Track," "At the Olympics," "On Broadway") with a compact film noir-like mystery format that was closer stylistically to "The Maltese Falcon" than to "Sherlock Holmes." And it worked too. "Wax Museum" and "Dead Men Tell" are especially adroit little films that benefit from the Fox studio's top technicians, set and costume designers, and superb supporting cast of contract players. Even a pre-Superman George Reeves shows up in "Dead Men Tell." The last of the Fox Chans, "Castle in the Desert" ended the series on a high level of quality. Presumably, the coming of World War II cut off the overseas markets and cut deeply into the potential revenues of these films, thus ending the series.
My favorite Toler is included in the set, CHARLIE CHAN IN PANAMA. The story is surprisingly timely with spies (today we call them terrorists) plotting to blow up the Panama Canal as the U.S. Naval Fleet is going through it. Charlie is working undercover in this one as a shopkeeper but considering how well known he was supposed to be, wouldn't he stand out like a sore thumb? (Maybe the bad guys are still looking for Warner Oland) The plot takes its time to get going but the climax is as suspenseful as any of the higher-rated Chans. The killer is exceptionally well hidden and the writers exploit our subconscious biases so we keep the individual off our suspect list without even realizing it.
While the earlier Tolers of 1939 only served to emphasize that the "real" Charlie Chan was gone, these last entries show a successful evolution in format and are quite enjoyable if you can just let Toler be Toler, forget (albeit momentarily) about Oland, and ironically see the Chan that Earl Derr Biggers probably had in mind when he wrote his stories. I am sure (this is a pre-release review)that the print quality of these films is excellent if the short-lived Fox Movie Channel airings of a few years back were any indication - they offer stunning b/w photography when the studio system was at its peak.
Click Here to see more reviews about: Charlie Chan Collection, Vol. 5 (Charlie Chan At The Wax Museum/Murder Over New York/Dead Men Tell/Charlie Chan In Rio/Charlie Chan In Panama/Murder Cruise/Castle in the Desert)
Disc 1: Charlie Chan at the Wax Museum Disc 2: Murder Over New York Disc 3: Dead Men Tell Disc 4: Charlie Chan in Rio Disc 5: Charlie Chan in Panama Disc 6: Charlie Chan's Murder Cruise Disc 7: Castle in the Desert Disc 8: Charlie Chan: The Fox Years
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